Wait--You're how old?
by C. L. Carson
Summary: This was a night Henry and Jo were not likely to forget. Gift for Tumblr user @6192columbusstreet
1. Chapter 1

Henry had just come home from the department store, gifting himself with a new tailored suit. As soon as he had opened the door, his phone rang. Closing the door, Henry dug into his pocket and pulled out his relic of a phone, flipping it open and answering the call.

"Hello?" He asked awkwardly.

"Henry? It's Jo."

"Oh! Hello, Jo. Is there a body I need to examine?" Henry asked.

"Uh...Yeah... You know that fancy restaurant, 'La Fleur Rouge'?" She asked.

"Yes, I think so. The one on 45th Street?"

"Yeah. The body is there."

"Give me a few minutes to change, and I'll be there qui-"

"No!" Jo interrupted. "You don't have to change! It's not a very messy scene."

"If you insist." It was his birthday after all.

"So, are you coming?" Jo asked expectantly.

"Of course. On my way now. See you in a few."

"Bye, Henry."

Henry had a strange feeling that something was off, but he went with it anyways. He went to board the subway, but the one he needed got held up for construction. He went back up to the surface and walked a few blocks to get to another subway station, and that one was closed completely, for reasons unknown to Henry. Finally giving up, he hailed a taxi.

"Where are you headed to?" The driver asked.

"45th Street, at Le Fleur Rouge."

"Alright, King Henry. Headed to The Red Flower."

Henry smirked and got in.

"So, who are you looking so fancy for?" The driver asked.

Henry, confused, looked down at his outfit and remembered he purchased a suit for his birthday.

"Nobody. I got this for my birthday, and I'm currently going to examine a body. I work for the NYPD."

"Oh, I see," the driver said, most likely confused himself. As the driver turned onto 45th street, he craned his neck to see over the cars. "I don't see any cop cars."

Henry craned his neck as well, not seeing any cop cars either, but seeing someone else. "How much do I owe you?" Henry mumbled distractedly. He gave the driver out whatever money he needed, and got out to meet Jo. "I'm presuming there isn't a body for me to exhume."

Jo shook her head, her brown curled locks shaking with it. She looked stunning in a ruby colored sweetheart sleeveless dress with a single chain diamond necklace. "You look...stunning," Henry observed, almost at a loss for words.

Blushing, she smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You're looking good too, birthday boy," she said with a wink.

Henry offered his elbow. "Shall we go in?"

She took his elbow joyfully. "With pleasure."

They sat down at the table and received their menus. "I guess it's just us?" Henry asked after ordering Jo and himself fancy wine.

"I wouldn't expect anyone from the presinct," Jo confirmed with a smile, "although quite a few told me to tell you happy birthday."

"Thank you, Jo," Henry said meaningfully.

"So, Henry," Jo started, "how old are you now?"

"237," he said with a laugh. He was relieved to see that Jo was laughing with him. "No, I'm kidding. I'm 37."

"37," Jo repeated. "Okay."

"How was work today?" Henry asked, not sure what to talk about.

"I just did paperwork. Nothing interesting. Hanson did have this strange dream about a bank robbery? Kept on counting down from thirty seven," Jo recounted. They laughed together.

"How ironic, considering I turned 37 today," Henry laughed.

"I was thinking that too!"

After they settled down, the waiter came over and poured their drinks. "May I take your order?" The waiter asked in a thick French accent.

"Yes," Henry started, "may I have the-"

BANG!

A gunshot rang throughout the room. Looking around, Henry finally found the victim: a young man, who was now laying on the ground in front of his crying girlfriend, a ring box blossomed in his hand. Henry and Jo glanced at each other, regretful that their night had been ruined. Jo got out her phone and dialed a number.

"This is detecting Jo Martinez, badge number 545-367, I need to report a body."


	2. Chapter 2

About two hours later, Henry decided to bring Jo home with him for a cup of coffee.

"Man, that's scary," Abe pointed out when Henry told him what happened. Jo had gone into the next room because she got a phone call. "It could have been you!"

"Good thing," Henry said, for multiple reasons. Mostly so he didn't have to explain the fact that he was immortal to Jo. "Especially on my birthday."

Abe looked over his shoulder to make sure Jo wasn't listening. "You need to tell her."

"I can't do that."

"She'll understand, Henry."

"Understand what?" Jo said, entering the room.

"Henry has something to tell you," Abe said insistently, glaring at Henry expectantly.

"Henry… What is this?" Jo asked.

Henry took a deep breath. I'm gonna do this. "Jo, it's a long story, and you'll find it hard to believe, but I'll just come out with it. Today is not my 37th birthday. It's my 237th birthday."

Jo tilted her head in interest and confusion. "Okay…" She trailed, drawing out the word.

"Let me explain," Henry said quickly before she could protest, calmly telling her they story of how-no, when-he received his immortality, when Adam came into his life, and when Henry paralyzed Adam, which was, as far as he knew, where Adam was that day. Once he was done, Jo took a moment to process what she was hearing. "You can die, but you just come back to life in the East?" She couldn't believe it.

"Naked," Henry unnecessarily added. "Let me prove it."

Jo's eyebrows rose high. "Henry! I have no desire to see you naked!" That sounded so fake! Jo chided herself.

"Let me go get in my underwear, then you can shoot me-if you want to, anyways. I could always do it myself."

"Why not Abe?" Jo asked.

"He's my son! I can't ask him to do that!" He had explained Abigail and Anraham to Jo before.

"But you can ask me?"

"Do you want to shoot me?" Henry finally asked.

Jo paused. "I'm actually a little curious about this," she admitted.

"I don't want to ruin my brand new suit, so if you don't mind, let me go change, then you are more than free to shoot me."

Henry went to his room and got changed, and Jo got out her gun and set it on the counter nervously.

"Once you shoot him, we're going to have to bring him some clothes. He'll bring down stuff. And look, it never ends up too gory. Have you seen that newer movie Edge of Tomorrow? It's kind of like that with Henry, but instead of time resetting, Henry's body just resets to the state it was in when he died the first time. Does that make sense?" Abe explained.

Jo nodded. "Yeah. I love that movie."

"Henry doesn't like that kind of stuff."

"Yeah, we'll have to get him into that."

Henry came down with an armful of clothes in his hand, but none on his body besides underwear. Jo tried her best to only look at his face, but his surprisingly fit body was just hard to not stare at.

"Alright, I'll need you to bring these to me once I wake up. Has Abe explained it to you?" Jo nodded. "Alright. Let's get started then, shall we?" He set down the clothes and stepped back to a tiled floor area.

Jo nervously picked up her gun, hands shaking. If he were lying and she really killed him, she would be fired and she would be in prison. She aimed her gun, trying to keep her hand steady as she got ready to fire.

"Ready?" Jo asked. Henry nodded. Jo made sure she was steady and aimed correctly. Then she pulled the trigger. She had never been as surprised as she had been then, because Henry was right. He disappeared shortly after he fell on the ground, dead.

Jo momentarily stared at the ground in disbelief, sinking to her knees in surprise. "Abe," she started, not sure if she could finish.

"Yeah. That happened."

"He's in the East River right now?"

"Uh-huh."

"I'm guessing you're not immortal, too."

"I'm adopted."

Jo picked the bullet shell off the ground and placed it in her purse, slowly rising.

"You need some time?" Abe asked. "Henry's still naked and probably freezing out there."

"Then let's go," Jo insisted, turning quickly to face Abe.

Abe nodded curtly. "Alright."


	3. Chapter 3

Thirty minutes later, they arrived at the beach, staring through the night at the dark waters. Finally there was a wet, pruned, naked Henry waving his arm facing away from them so they only saw his behind.

Abe jogged to the shoreline and Henry came out, drying himself off, putting his briefs back on, and tying the towel around his waist. Henry waddled up to Jo with Abe close behind. Jo, turned around and walked to the car wordlessly.

"Jo…?" Henry said quietly, approaching her.

"Henry… I don't know what to say. This is so...surprising." She turned to face him. "You made me kill you so you could drag me all the way to the East River so I could see you naked and unscathed. Well, except for that," Jo said, placing her finger on the large scar on his chest.

"This," Henry explained, "was from my first death. The only scar I kept." He sighed as a memory flashed in his head.

"How do you remember it all? From 1800 to 2016… That's a long time."

"Well, my memory isn't perfect," Henry said, defending himself. "My teenage years are fuzzy."

Jo cracked a smile and nudged Henry. "Finish putting your clothes on, Doctor. I'm tired of standing here all fancy next to a half-naked man."

Jo got in as Henry put on his pants and his shirt, and afterwards, Henry crawled in behind her. "You still look dashing, Detective Martinez."

Jo blushed in the darkness of the back seat of Abe's car, and before she could say anything, Henry gently placed his finger on her chin and turned her face to him.

"Henry-?" Jo whispered before Henry gently placed his lips on hers. Once they parted, there was a satisfied silence that hung in the air. Finally, Jo broke the silence. "Oh! Henry, I forgot to give you your birthday present before I killed you." It surprised her how casually she said it, but neither of them made a comment about it as Jo reached her purse and pulled out a small present box and handed it to him.

Henry gingerly took the box in his hand, wondering what could be inside. Not wanting to wait any longer, Henry opened the box carefully. He lifted the lid to discover a pocket watch, completely silver with an NYPD badge on it. "All of us at the Presinct chipped in, but it was my idea to get it."

Henry smiled. "It's beautiful," Henry said gingerly. "And you have made my night so special."

"Even though our dinner got ruined by someone getting shot, which I'll probably have to help out investigating tomorrow, and I killed you."

"We went out to dinner and I gave you one of my biggest secrets to trust you with. This has been an amazing night, and I couldn't ask to spend it with anyone else."

"I was glad to ask you to join me for dinner," Jo said, yawning.

"Are you ready to go home? I'm sure it's been a long day."

"More of a long night, but yeah."

"Do you want Abraham to take you home?"

"Sure." It was strange how suddenly Jo became tired, but once Abe had come back to the car (he had gone to the shore to give the two some privacy) and drove Jo to her house, she found herself leaning on Henry's shoulder, trying not to fall asleep. By the time that they had reached her house, she was already half asleep, so Henry had to help her to her door.

Once she opened the door, Henry stood patiently. Jo turned back to him and kissed him, surprising both Henry and Abe. "Happy 237th, Henry."

"Thank you, Jo."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

She went inside, locking the door behind her, but wishing Henry was with her.


End file.
